Part 7 – Forms

From the Forms Manager you can customize the sections and fields available for each listing type and even create your own listing types from scratch. AutoBoss comes pre-populated with a number of common listings types, each with their own set of sections and fields.

Index

From the Forms Index page you can access each of the listing type forms.

Add

To add a new form, click the "+ Form" button on the Forms Index page.

Choose a name for your new form. The form name is also used on the Add Listing and Edit Listing pages in the "Listing type" select box.

The "Table name" is the name that will be used for the MySQL database table. Standard MySQL naming conventions will apply.

You must specify at least one "Make" option and at least one "Category" option. These options will populate the "Make" and "Category" select boxes on the Add Listing and Edit Listing pages.

Details

The Form Details page give you a complete view of the sections and fields associated with a location. From this page you can access additional tools for managing each form.

Edit

If at any time you need to change the information for a form you can do so by clicking the "Edit" button at the top of the Form Details page, or by clicking the "Edit" link on the Forms Index page. The Edit Form page is virtually identical to the Add Form page. Once you have made your changes be sure to click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page to store the updated information in the database.

Delete

To delete a form, click the "Delete" button on the Form Details page. You will be prompted to confirm your request. Click the "Continue" button and the form and all of the form's sections and fields will be moved to the trash.

Trash

Deleted forms, sections, and fields are located in the Forms Trash. To access the Forms Trash click the "Trash" button at the top of the Forms Index page.

From the Forms Trash page you can recover deleted forms, sections, and fields by clicking the "Recover" link to the right of the item that you want to recover. You will prompted you to confirm your request.

To permanently remove deleted forms, sections, and fields from your system, click the "Empty" button at the top of the Trash page. You will be prompted to confirm your request. Clicking the "Continue" button will permanently delete any forms, sections, and fields in the Trash. This action cannot be undone.

Part 7.1 – Form Sections

Each form is broken up into Sections. Sections are used to group related fields. You can view and manage a form's section from the Form Details page.

Add

To add a new section to a form, click the "+ Section" button on the Form Details page.

You'll need to specify a "Label" for the new form section but the reset of the fields are optional. The "Site label" field can be useful if you want to use a different display label on the public side of your website vs. what is displayed in the AutoBoss Administrator Control Panel. The fields can be broken up into multiple columns by selecting an option from the "Columns" select box.

Edit

To edit a section's details, click the "Edit this section" link on the Form Details page. The Edit Section page is virtually identical to the Add Section page. Once you have made your changes be sure to click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page to store the updated information in the database.

Delete

To delete a section, click the "Delete this section" link on the Form Details page. You will be prompted to confirm your request. Click the "Continue" button and the section and all of the section's fields will be moved to the trash.

Sort

To change the display order of a form's sections, click the "Sort these sections" link near the top of the Form Details page. On The Sort Sections page you'll see the form's sections displayed. Click and drag the sections to change their display order. AutoBoss will automatically store the display order. When you're finished just click the "Finished" button at the top of the page.

Part 7.2 – Form Fields

Each form section can contain any number of fields. AutoBoss supports text fields, select boxes, and text areas. Text areas can be displayed in paragraph form or as formatted lists.

Add

To add a new field to a form section, click the "Add a field" link on the Form Details page.

The "Field name" is the name that will be used in the MySQL database table. Standard MySQL naming conventions will apply.

The field "Properties" let you control how certain rules will be applied to the field. If you want to force a user to complete the field, check the "Required" checkbox. If you want to force each listing to have a unique value for the field, check the "Unique" checkbox. If you would like the field to appear in the AutoBoss Administrator Control Panel, but not on the public side of your website, uncheck the "Public" checkbox.

Edit

To edit a field's details, click the "Edit" link on the Form Details page. The Edit Field page is virtually identical to the Add Field page. Once you have made your changes be sure to click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page to store the updated information in the database.

Delete

To delete a field, click the "Delete" link on the Form Details page. You will be prompted to confirm your request. Click the "Continue" button and the field will be moved to the trash.

Sort

To change the display order of a section's fields, click the "Sort these fields" link near the top of the Form Details page. On The Sort Fields page you'll see the section's fields displayed. Click and drag the fields to change their display order. AutoBoss will automatically store the display order. When you're finished just click the "Finished" button at the top of the page.